


come morning light, you and i'll be safe and sound

by oceanhearted



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Moving On, Recovery, Spoilers (Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:42:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7555255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanhearted/pseuds/oceanhearted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>The first morning Junpei wakes up to find Akane in bed beside him he can hardly believe his eyes.</p>
</blockquote><p>Post-Zero Time Dilemma; a short fic detailing Junpei and Akane's relationship after the events in the Mars Mission Test Site.</p>
            </blockquote>





	come morning light, you and i'll be safe and sound

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. Title is from Taylor Swift's [Safe and Sound ft. The Civil Wars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzhAS_GnJIc).

The first morning Junpei wakes up to find Akane in bed beside him he can hardly believe his eyes.

The sunlight trickling through their bedroom window falls onto her face and frames it beautifully; her eyes shut and her chest rising and falling slowly as she slept soundly beside him. The morning sunlight gave her hair the softest tinge of hazel and he could only describe the way she looked as angelic. He raises a hand to find himself carefully, slowly taking in how—how _real_ this moment is, to finally have Akane by his side after what seemed like an eternity looking for her, after he'd sunken into his lowest moments thinking he'd never surface again, and yet here she is, safe and here and real.

He moves his hand to sweep away strands of hair covering her face and his breath hitches when she stirs, making a sleepy noise before violet eyes open gingerly to meet his own, and the most beautiful smile he's ever seen spreading across her lips telling him yes, after everything he's gone through—after everything they've gone through, here and now, things are very, very real. She leans into his hand which lingered beside her cheek, and he found himself smiling gratefully.

"Good morning, Junpei."

 

* * *

 

He's aware that in a certain future he goes on for the rest of his life searching for her, falling further and further into ruin, only for all of his efforts to end in vain, and he's left all alone to wallow in his misery over the illusion of a girl he'd drown in obsession over.

He's aware that in a certain past she gradually vanishes in his arms after telling him how much he had meant to her, returning his feelings in the worst way imaginable, and how he desperately cries over the life fading away in his arms, her body gradually growing colder, after all the time she spent as a ghost in his memory only to end up having their last moments together in such a cruel, unforgiving fashion.

Sometimes he's overcome with fear that she'll vanish right before his eyes, just as she was in danger of in what seemed like a distant time and space ago, yet it lingers so close in his heart, that he holds her and runs his hands along her arms, her face, fingers lacing through her hair and desperately trying to grasp onto the fact that she was right before him, that she would no longer fade before his grasp, and this time he could make sure of it. At times like these she presses against him in return, letting him hold her in an unspoken understanding, her arms wrapped tightly around him and speaking softly to him, reassuring him that she was fine and she was here and she would stay. He clings onto her just as tightly and buries his face into her hair, allowing vulnerability to show and tears to roll down his face until the fearful thumping in his chest calmed itself. He vows to stay just as strong for her; at times when she's reassuring him she sounds as if she were attempting to convince herself that things were fine as well, and he comes to the realisation that she needed him as much as he needed her, and after everything that's happened he couldn't let her slip out of his grasp unnoticed once more.

 

 

* * *

 

Some nights he's awoken by stifled sobs and shaking beside him, and he finds her attempting to suppress her crying in hopes of not waking him—he immediately brings her into his arms gently and reassures her as she finally allows herself to burst into tears in his hold, the only time she'll ever allow weakness to overcome her in front of others.

He knows that there are things she's seen and experienced that he'll never know of, things he could never expect to understand; he thinks of nights he isn't around where she's had to force herself through waves of panic and terrors alone and swears to the both of them that he would always be there to ground her when it seemed as if everything was slipping through her grasp the way it surely did a many times, until her sobs turn into hiccups and into soft, weak snoring as she falls asleep in his arms, finally calming down and being grounded back into reality with his reassurance. He would hold her carefully throughout the night in case she began to panic again, though most nights went thankfully uneventful after her initial panic, watching her, thinking of how fragile she was in his arms and how he could finally protect her from everything she had to bear on her shoulders alone, that she no longer needed to put a brave face on if she couldn't handle things on her own.

 

* * *

 

Some mornings he wakes up to find her curled up against him, a small glint on her left ring finger, and he smiles to himself, taking comfort in the fact that she would finally stay by his side and everything he had gone through to come to where he was at that very moment had not been in vain, and the very same had applied to her, as well. He needed her as much as she needed him in their relationship and he was sure that they would always, always be there for each other no matter what; after all they had been through and he wouldn't let her go no matter what they would have to face in the future, because they would face them together, and he was sure that nothing would ever change between them any longer.


End file.
